IN the spring of 2018, Young’s Seafood confirmed that its Annan plant Pinneys would be closing at the end of the year. Pinneys supplied salmon to Marks and Spencer, but Youngs stated that production at Pinneys was no longer sustainable, and 450 jobs would be lost.

The then Scottish Secretary of state David Mundell, who represented a neighbouring constituency, warned that “the economic damage of such a move cannot be underestimated.” Young’s Seafood paid out £7.7 million in redundancy pay to the former employees. It was also revealed by Wings over Scotland that Youngs seafood had been awarded £1.3 million to help safeguard 250 jobs and create a further 200 positions in Grimsby.

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Palidus, the owners of McVitie’s biscuits in Tollcross Glasgow, are making 500 workers redundant and moving the operation to England. They state that “over-production” is the reason.

So is the plant in England not over producing? Just the Scottish plant!! So no redundancies in England, only in Scotland.

The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council, along with the unions, are in discussions with Palidus and are offering them a nearby, brand new, sparkling, all-singing-and-dancing factory to stay. But if Palidus accepts this generous offer, will they have to pay off staff in England? What would the Westminster Tories say about that?

What would make a company that has been based in Tollcross for decades refuse such a offer? Surely over-production would still be a issue?

In the north-west of Glasgow, Allied Bakeries are now saying they are closing their bakery in Balmore Industrial Estate and moving south to England citing “over-production” as the cause.

Once more it would appear it is only the hard-working Scottish workforce that can “over-produce”, and make a case for their own demise.

Pinneys, Palidus and Allied Bakeries are proving that hard-working Scots are nothing more than collateral damage, especially when the sunlit uplands of England beckon.

For some reason, the Secretary of state for Scotland, Alister Jack, and Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Tories, have lost their ability to speak up for these workers.

As the country emerges from the pandemic and furlough ends, are we going to see the true face of the Union? Nothing matters more than south of the Border.

Just how much money did the Tories spend of public money on Nissan in Sunderland? And why will they not reveal the figures? Are English jobs worth more than the ones in Scotland?

Robert McCaw
Renfrew

I GUESS it may seem strange to celebrate a day of strike action by workers providing a lifeline service, but in the case of the Highland and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) air traffic controllers I think that I am justified.

HIAL and the Scottish Government are insistent on carrying out changes despite reports produced for HIAL stating that their programme will be detrimental to service provision and the communities in which these airports are based.

Aside from the loss of employment, risks to service provision and the possibility that renewable energy projects could be stymied by the needs of the proposed new system, there is a very real question: is the “island-proofing” legislation just a fig leaf?

READ MORE: Dundee, Inverness and Stornoway airports among those closed over strike

I get the feeling that, just like the Westminster politicians and civil servants who devised the freedom of information system (FOI), their cousins at Holyrood didn’t think through the implications. Folk are always interested in what those who are supposed to serve us are up to, and FOI has provided the statutory right to ask for information. The requests are on a scale which the architects of FOI stupidly underestimated.

I think the same misconception applies to the island-proofing legislation in Scotland. The architects thought that it would look nice for the peasants in the isles, whilst in the real world folk like me expected the legislation to pass the Cuprinol test.

When HIAL were pressured into carrying out an Island Community Impact Assessment (ICIA), they made it clear that whatever the findings they would continue with the project as planned. This approach had the full backing of the Scottish Government minister, even though it flew directly in the face of the supposed reality of the island-proofing legislation. So the question hangs in the air like a parentless fart: do the views and needs of island communities carry any real weight with politicians and the public bodies who answer to them?

Jon Southerington
Deerness, Orkney

IN response to Martin Hannan on Friday (Scotland’s largest batch of past record released, Jul 30), hiring the mortcloth was the norm – it was an expensive item and coffin quality varied. The Trades Guilds also hired theirs out to members. Moneys collected helped support the Kirk/Trade funds.

John Meek
via email